Now I know why I work from home. I went to London for meetings today. The trip up there was fine - trains ran on time, I was where I wanted to be all in good time. The trip back was a little more difficult since there was a landslip and flooding that closed the line I would normally have used. Fortunately I was able to go a scenic route that got me home. Result!

I'm glad I was travelling before the rush hour. I feel sorry for the people who had to cope with the problems during the peak period.

Tomorrow I'm in the office all day and my wife has decided to go to her firm's local office instead of doing battle with the reduced service the train companies are offering. Same number of people just fewer trains :-(﻿

I am an independent VAT consultant. I specialise in helping business owners avoid VAT penalties and pay less VAT.

On my business cards I used to show my job title as 'VAT Engineer.' I used this rather than VAT Consultant as it would no doubt have caused HMRC to raise their eyebrows and wonder what I was up to :) I think it's always good to keep HMRC on their toes! Maybe it's this approach that resulted in one contact saying that I was the fun VAT-man - which is now my job title!

I have been involved with indirect taxation for over thirty years. The first 13 were spent working for HM Customs & Excise. I then worked for firms of accountants until 2000 when I set up as an independent VAT consultant. My main work is for the VAT Practitioners Group (VPG) for which I do knowledge management work, including representing them at meetings with H M Revenue & Customs, preparing responses to consultations, editing their members' newsletter, etc.

My aim is to find solutions to the VAT difficulties faced by businesses.

The rest of the time

I listen to Radio 4, podcasts or audio books during the day while working. It's a great way to keep up to date with various interests whilst still getting something else done. Sometimes I listen on the Amateur Radio frequencies, and being licensed have conversations with other Radio Hams. Mostly I work on local frequencies so don't have lots of contacts with other countries. I am a member of Surrey RAYNET. RAYNET is the Radio Amateurs emergencY NETwork and provides help to local authorities and the emergency services through out the UK via local groups. For training we often provide radio communications at big events, such as the London Marathon, the UK leg of the Tour de France, and other smaller local events. It's a great way for me to give something to the community whilst also getting to play with radios!

Basic Information

Gender

Male

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